Full size vs compact

"light gathering" is a marketing phrase, used to deceive you out of your money.😉

The exit pupil, is the theoretical brightest your scope could be.
Take a 4-14 X 44mm scope as an example:

44 ÷ 4 = 11mm exit pupil @ low power.
44 ÷ 14 = 3.12mm exit pupil @ max power.

The average human eye, for the average age of the posters on this forum; is around 2.7mm. Which means anything more than 3mm, cannot be realized.

So do the math on that same power range, with a 56mm objective scope. Theoretical light transmission will be greater with the larger objective, but you'd never know it, because of the limitations of your eye.

Cheers

What I notice with 30mm scopes is how forgiving they are on position of your eye behind the scope, sometimes referred to as the "eye box". Like shooting NRL22 pest control sometimes requires shooting in awkward positions. Shooting stuff in attics and underneath decks as an example, I once shot a raccoon laying down with the rifle sideways under a low deck, after putting him down I was able to remove the decking above him and extract his carcass. The small field of view, unlit reticle and small eye box of the 1" tube 40mm scope that's on the gun now is a real handicap.
After looking at the two scopes reviews and studying the dimensions I ordered the compact model, it'll be here this weekend. From what I can tell it's not really all that compact, it's still a pretty big scope. Looks like there's more room on the compact model for magazine clearance than the scope that's currently on the gun because the distance between the turret and bell is longer.

So I got the scope today, it's only about a half inch longer than the 4x12, albeit quite a bit heavier though.
Like all Hawke scopes I've seen the glass is first rate for scopes in this price range.
I was a little surprised that it doesn't have the huge eyebox like the Vortex diamondback 30mm scopes I have, don't get me wrong it's bigger than the 1" scope that came off of the gun but not huge.
A couple of really nice features are the target knobs, very positive and easy to zero. Also I've never owned a scope that came with the ferris wheel looking thing to adjust the parallax, took about a minute to decide most target scopes should have one of these. It's a hard rubber sleeve bushing that fits over an indexed knob on the left side of the turret, clever.
Took just a couple of minutes to sight it in, no apparent sticking of the reticle or skips.
I'll run a side by side comparison with some other scopes tonight in the dark with only the red gun light.


The picture is misleading, scopes are almost the same length.

The best I can do is verbal testimonials, taking photo's during pest control operations at private residences is seriously frowned upon especially since it's almost always done under the watchful eye of the customers. Not always the case in commercial accounts but not unusual in those situations to be under constant video surveillance. I don't believe I've done any commercial work in the last 10yrs where there wasn't a restriction on taking pictures.
To me that makes for uninteresting posts when there's no pictures.
I've been averaging about 1 raccoon per week for the last 6 weeks, most of them injured by vehicles and unable to recover in peoples backyards in a couple of days.
Until you've seen it in person it's hard to believe that a high powered .177 air rifle can be that lethal on a raccoon sized animal. I shot one friday that had moved into a little storage shed in a customers backyard, wasn't sick or injured. He was a big male with a nasty disposition and willing to fight their two dogs over his new territory.
That 16gr jsb pellet coming into his skull from a quartering away shot melted him to the ground instantly. I gave him a couple of insurance shots just to be certain but they probably weren't needed.